When Love Comes Knocking
by Serena Fallen
Summary: Tiffany Midwinter is your average girl, if you can consider someone who has been fighting demons all her life average. Tiffany is sworn to fight demons but the definition of demons is starting to get blurry. Follow her as she falls in love with Sebastian Verlac and fights to save their world along with all the other Shadowhunters.
1. Chapter 1

Life, as you know it, is about to change. What you don't see may hurt you after all. There are creatures that lurk in the dark, creatures who love to kill and eat. That's all they know. But there are those of us who fight these creatures, these…demons, to protect mundane from a world they can not see. We are called Shadowhunters.

My name is Tiffany Midwinter. I am a Shadowhunter, as is everyone else in my family. We fight demons on a daily basis. There's my mom Theresa, my dad Samuel, my older brother Gabe, younger brother and sister Adam and Amber, who are twins. In Shadowhunter society twins are extremely rare.

I asleep dreaming about a boy I'd never met, a boy whose face was white, not as paper but as if he never got any sun. His brown hair hung over his forehead his eyes half closed as if he were sleeping. What was so strange about him was his black wings dripping red, with-with blood. He smiled this smile, showing his fangs.

I shot out of bed and looked around my room feeling for dagger under my pillow. When I felt the familiar cold of the handle my hand instinctively wrapped around it while my eyes scanned the room for any sign of danger or that I would need it. Noticing that nothing was out of place and no one was here to harm me I released the dagger and sighed heavily. Glancing outside I realized that it's storming which didn't help give any indication as to what the time was.

I brushed my hair from my face feeling it stick to my forehead with sweat. I grabbed my phone off my bed side table and flipped it open glancing at the time. My heart sank when I realized I had no missed messages. The time on my phone said 4:15 am. I sighed heavily again flopping back down on the bed. After another half hour of tossing and turning I decided to get up and shower.

The water was warm as it ran down my light brown hair, relaxing all the tense muscles in me. Finishing up I stepped out of the shower wrapping the towel closer to me. I glanced at myself in the somewhat steamy mirror, my green eyes stood out as well as my light brown hair. Mom always told me that I was gorgeous and mundane boys always tried to hit on me, but I always brushed them away.

Now I took a good look at my reflection. I looked muscled like most Shadowhunters but I also had many features some lacked. My curves helped me to feel more comfortable with my body. Many girls had complimented me but I brushed those off as well. I'm not hot or beautiful, I'm just me. Can't anyone see that?

Frowning at my reflection I finished getting ready for my day. After applying some light eye shadow and eye liner I stepped out of the bathroom and to my bedroom. I dropped my towel slipping on a black bra, black panties, a pair of tight jeans, a fitted work out t-shirt and my boots. Normal getup for us.

I left my bedroom and headed to the kitchen, the scent of coffee wafted to my nose from down the hall making me smile. Someone had gotten up before me and brewed a fresh pot of coffee. Stepping into the kitchen I was faced by Gabe sitting on the counter with a bowl of cereal in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

He raised his eyebrows at me but said nothing. I poured myself a cup of coffee and grabbed some bread popping it into the toaster. I turned on Gabe then, "What are you doing up so early?"

He took a bite of cereal before placing the bowl on the counter and looking at me, "I couldn't sleep. But then I could ask you the same. Why are you up so early?"

I looked my brother over. His long brown hair fell around his face and his green eyes shown darkly under them. He looked exhausted but nothing else about him told me how he felt. "I had a nightmare; afterwards I couldn't get back to sleep so I figured I get up and get ready."

He frowned, "Let me guess you had a nightmare about a boy with black wings dripping with blood."

I gawked openly at him, "How'd you know?"

He ran his hand through his hair sending it up in spiky disarray. "It's the same one I had actually. The boy seemed familiar; I jotted down features and will see if Amber will try to do a sketch of him. Everything's been so crazy since Valentine came back."

He was right, every Institute in the world feared Valentine but no one knew where he was now. Last anyone saw of him he was headed to his old country house in Allicante but when the Clave had investigated it the house had been empty looking deserted for a long time. Now no one knew where he was or what his next move was.

My toast popped up and I eyed them after pulling them out, they had been burned by our malfunctioning toaster. Sighing I tossed them in the trash before grabbing my coffee cup and turning back to Gabe. "The whole world is one hot mess right now. Have they had any luck having the Head Warlock of Brooklyn track him yet?"

He shook his head and went to say something but the door opened and in stepped our mom. She looked tired and hadn't bothered getting dressed yet. She eyed us but headed straight for the coffee. "I don't even want to know why you two are up so early."

Gabe jumped off the counter and kissed mom's cheek, "Didn't you hear mom? We're being called to the Institute in New York as back up against Valentine. They want to have the troops for when they find him. There have been some deaths that they think are connected to him."

She groaned now, "Let me guess you're going?"

He smiled before turning to me, "Yes and so is Tiffany."

I didn't respond to that just glared at my brother for volunteering me to go on this mission. I set down my coffee cup and walked past them, "I guess I'll go pack and get ready."

After an hour I was packed and ready to go but Gabe told me the portal wouldn't be opened until sometime this afternoon so I did what most girls would do. I checked my phone again. Still nothing. Finally giving up on not hearing from him I sent him a quick text, 'I'm being sent to the New York Institute today.'

I waited for the response and soon got one, 'When do you leave?'

'Sometime today. I was just told by Gabe that we're leaving.'

'Just be careful over there. I've heard some bad things about Valentine.'

I could almost see him running his hands through his black hair and the worry lines around his brown eyes. I like Sebastian for a number of reasons but the most important one was because he was different. He wasn't the typical Shadowhunter guy. Everyone kind of went to him as if he were a beacon of friendliness.

'I'm always careful.'

It took him longer to respond then normal but when he did he told me, 'I'm going to try to go to the New York Institute as back up. You're going to need all the help you can get if they hope to take down valentine.'

My heart jumped inside my chest thinking of seeing him. 'I would like that.'

I had had a crush on Sebastian since I had met him on our trip to the Paris Institute 3 years ago. Mom had taken us there because they were having a cult problem they needed help with. Mom's specialty is cults so we were requested. When we got there we were greeted by the Penhallows and Sebastian. They were the only Shadowhunters left at this Institute since the others had left back to the Clave or died in the raids on the cult's hideouts.

Sebastian then was only 14 but he seemed older. The way he held himself and listened when the adults talked about the cult members and what demons they worshipped. I hadn't been paying too much attention; instead I was busy cleaning some of my weapons occasionally glancing at Sebastian. Gabe stood off to my right leaning against the library walls.

He looked generally uninterested in the conversation but I knew he was paying close attention. Gabe always took the simplified version and gave it to me after the meeting was over but this time when the meeting was over and we were told our meeting place and time it wasn't Gabe who came up to me and told me the details. Sebastian did. He just walked up to me, pulled me to the side with his hand under my elbow.

He hid us in a bedroom right beside the library. "You didn't seem to catch any of that."

Crossing my arms over my chest I glared at the Shadowhunter across from me. "How would you know that?"

He chuckled and stepped closer, "I know how it is to listen to them, naturally tune them out. I also know the look you get when you're tuned out. You had that look. You're brother on the other hand seemed to pay pretty good attention."

"So you're saying that you were watching me and my brother?"

He blushed, I mean what reason would he have to blush, "Yeah, well I was watching you guys since you're covering my butt out there. Without you're help this mission wouldn't be possible. I wanted to see who I could rely on and who I couldn't."

My eyes widened, "You're calling me unreliable? You're really going to start the name calling."

He stepped forward with a hand outstretched, "No that's not what I meant."

I stepped around him and headed to the door. "I'll show you unreliable."

I slammed the door almost running into Gabe. He eyed me cautiously but handed me a piece of paper and left. I headed to my room making sure to dress in my Shadowhunter gear, French braiding my long hair so it wouldn't get in the way. I made sure to tuck 2 seraph blades in my belt, my stele in my back pocket after drawing runes for speed, silence, and starting 3 iratze's so healing during a fight would be easy.

After I was well equipped I grabbed one last thing out of my bag and strapped it to my waist. My grandmother had been a great Shadowhunter and had handed her sword down to me. It was beautiful with a red hilt and a sharp, silver blade.

Noticing I had only 15 minutes to meet at the designated place I left my room and headed down the hall. Once I got to the elevator I noticed everyone but Adam and Amber were here. Mom was finishing up some last minute runes on dad but otherwise everyone looked ready. I looked at mom and asked, "Are Adam and Amber not coming?"

They were only 12 which was young for a child to start fighting but they were occasionally allowed to tag along when mom and dad found it to be a safer situation than most. "No, I made sure they are going to stay here and listen, unlike you when you were little they will stay."

I 'hmphed' crossing my arms over my chest before flopping down on the couch beside Gabe. He just nodded my way and I remembered everything he had written down on the paper. The cult we're going after today worships a minor demon but the problem is that they've injected themselves with the demons blood so they're no longer just normal mundanes. If we had to take out the cult members and the demon then that's what we had to do and the Clave had told us to take any measures necessary.

The Penhallows stood off to the side checking each other's gear and making sure runes were done. Sebastian stood among them but didn't take part in checking gear or runes. He stood there smiling staring at something outside a window. I jumped when I heard the elevator open but was soon relaxed to see a warlock step in.

This warlock has normal blue eyes but he has wide beautiful wings the color of water. His hands and feet looked normal but he wore no shirt so his chest and abs were exposed causing me to blush. "You have summoned me? What may I do for you?"

Mom came over to the demon as well as Mrs. Penahllow, "Hello and thank you for coming. We need you're assistance in tracking a demon cult worshipping a lower level demon."

The warlock's beautiful eyes widened but he smiled down at my mom and told her, "I will help you, Shadowhunter but I request payment for this."

Mom smiled, she knew how downworlders worked. Warlocks loved money, vampires love blood, werewolves love freedom, and the fey loved secrets. Mom handed the warlock a yellow-orange envelope which he opened and eyed the contents, "Will that be enough for you, Mr.-"

He interrupted her, "Please call me Chris. No formalities are required for me, but I thank you for your kindness."

I stood up now, "Well, Chris, what items do you need to perform a tracking?"

His eyes finally looked away from my mother to me. Something about the way he looked at me had me shifting from foot to foot. He smiled, though, showing me his perfectly straight teeth, "All I require is an item from the cult, something familiar to them and a map. I have everything else I need on me."

Nodding I left to my bedroom grabbing my map of Paris. I heard someone else leave after me. When I left my bedroom with the map I came face to face with Sebastian, who looked a mix of angry and irritated. I went to move around him but he put up his arms caging me in. "Please just listen to me."

Crossing my arms over my chest I stayed silent. He sighed running his hand through his hair causing it to stand up and then fall back down over his forehead. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to seem so pushy and cocky earlier. It's just you're the first girl I've seen that I'm not related to. I was hoping to make a good impression, but I clearly screwed that. I want to warn you though. Chris is no ordinary warlock. Just please don't go with him outside of this mission."

His eyes were pleading as he looked at me and I could see worry lines forming around them. "So now you're my protector? I can handle myself against some warlock."

I stepped under his arms but heard him grumble clearly irritated with me. He caught up to me before I reached the entryway. "Ok fine don't believe me but please be careful."

With that he stepped away from me and went back into the entryway toward his aunt and uncle. I followed shortly after handing the map to Chris. He took it, and laid it out on the floor. I watched curiously as he attached something to a chain with a crystal at the end. He started chanting slowly spinning the chain in circles over the map. It landed on a point on the map.

Chris turned to us and told us, "They are here."

Mom wrote down an address and then led us all outside with Chris following behind. I was glad to see mom had already got a transport ready. We all crammed into the SUV and somehow I ended up in the back with Sebastian. He stared out the window with his left hand propped up on the cup holder. He kept clenching and unclenching his right hand.

Without actually thinking about it I put my hand in his causing him to look at me. The adults up front were discussing different methods of entrance. With Sebastian and me being the only one's in the back it was very easy to talk to him. "I'm sorry about earlier. I just hate when guys underestimate me."

His hand tightened around mine and he looked at me, "I wasn't underestimating you. You have this aura around you, making me want to help you, protect you in some way. I'm not sure what it is."

I blushed but said nothing to that. "Listen our family's are going to split us up. It'll be you're mom and dad, my aunt and uncle, Gabe, you and me in the last group. I want you to stay close to me. Please."

"How do you know that? They don't even know that."

He smiled, "I've been around adults all my life, and they always do the same thing. It's easy to predict their actions now."

His thumb ran over my knuckles as he looked me up and down, "By the way, I really like you're braid. It's cute, suits you well."

"Th-thanks."

This caused him to smile and he looked out the window again as we continued on our way. We stopped a block away from the building Chris had indicated the cult would be at. It was a brick building clearly condemned. Caution tape covered the door and wood boards covered all the windows. As I stared at the building I noticed movement in one of the upper levels. "Well we definitely have the right place. There's some movement in the upper levels."

Sebastian's hand tightened around mine. He's leaning over me to look out the window at the building. His proximity had me shivering. He noticed and glanced from the building down to me. Whispering lightly in my ear, "It's ok. I'm here to protect you."

He didn't understand why I shivered which didn't help any. Mom called back, "Let's go."

We all shuffled out of the SUV onto the sidewalk where mom said, "Ok guys we've agreed to split up in groups. It'll be Mr. and Mrs. Penhallow, Gabe, Tiffany and Sebastian, and then Samuel and I. Take out any cult members you run into but do not engage the demon until we're all together."

We all nodded and then headed across the street to the building. Mom cautiously opened the door. She gestured for us to go upstairs, the Penhallows to search the lower level and they're taking the elevator. We all nodded our acknowledgement. Gabe led us upstairs, me in the middle and Sebastian bringing up the rear.

Once on the second floor we noticed that there's a huge hallway of doors, all of them closed and eerie looking. Gabe glanced over his shoulder, "Split up, search them one at a time."

We nodded and I headed to the third door drawing a seraph blade for light, "_Michael._"

The seraph blade lit up and as I reached for the door I heard shuffling, watching shadows move under the door. I took a deep breath before opening the door and being faced by a room full of kids. They weren't normal kids though. These kids had mangled hair, black eyes and claws instead of hands. What the hell is going on here?

They hissed at the sight of my blade and all lunged at me, I got a few down before they forced me out of the room and into the hall again. They still kept coming and I kept going at them with my blade. To my left I noticed something worse, an adult running at me with a pipe. I ducked just in time to miss being hit and deflected it again causing it to hit one of the kids in the head.

He screamed out and I heard someone else running at me. But before I could look to see who or what it was, another bright light filtered into the hall and the kids split into groups, half staying attacking me and the other half running at the light. One of the mongrels managed to cut my leg before I managed to slice his chest open.

I only had 3 kids left and they lunged at me at the same time. I drew a dagger out of my belt and sliced the 2 on the outside blocking the one in the middle. She screeched and I saw teeth as sharp as razors. I brought both blades up at the same time slicing the kid's throat. Turning I realized the adult stood there, staring at the dead children. She noticed me then and lunged at me again.

I stuck the seraph blade into her abdomen and pulled it out quickly letting her fall back. I leaned against the wall feeling overwhelmed by the dead children surrounding me. I heard my name and turned to see Sebastian coming up to me, a seraph blade in his hand. He looked scared as his hand cupped my cheek. "Are you alright?"

I shook my head looking at all the children's dead bodies, "They're just kids, Sebastian. Just kids. Not old enough to be monsters. Why….Why would they do this?"

He pulled me to look at him, "This was an experiment to test mundanes with demon blood and see what came out. Monsters are what happened. Now come on. Let's go find the rest."

I took a deep breath returning to the room to finish my inspection. I checked the only door in the room to see a bathroom. Completely empty but clearly no one taught these kids how to use the bathroom because the room is covered in feces making me gag with the smell. I left that room heading to another one. This one is empty except for some cribs.

I look into the cribs to see babies but I could tell just looking at them that they had been dead for a while. I checked the other rooms and then met up with Sebastian and Gabe at the end of the hall at the bottom of the steps. They glanced at me real quick before we headed upstairs.

Upstairs is just an empty room clearly meant to be more rooms but nothing had been built yet. I saw a flash of light and turned to see a TV with children sitting in front of it. They hadn't heard us since we had the silent runes. I turned to Sebastian and he glanced from Gabe to me raising his Seraph blade. The light that came from it caused all the kids to turn and face us.

Recognition registered on their faces and they lunged at us. We quickly dealt with them and then headed upstairs again. We're now on the 4th level and this building only had 6 levels. We ran into mom and dad here. They were swarmed by what looked like the parents of those children.

One of them was stalking up behind mom so I threw my seraph blade jamming it right into its chest. It made a sound and fell down. I drew my sword and ran toward them circling behind them to trap them between myself and my parents. I heard something behind me and turned to see a ravenoir demon behind me. I couldn't fight it and them at the same time. It lunged at me but was stopped short by Sebastian.

He fought it off as Gabe helped me with the creatures surrounding our parents. It only took us 10 minutes and I ran to help Sebastian who had taken down that one but now had 3 more he was facing. I pulled out my dagger throwing it at the demon going for his feet. It screamed and then gurgled and vanished. Gabe had thrown his seraph blade at the other one leaving Sebastian with one more.

We heard a scream coming from above us. Just as I went to run up there mom grabbed my wrist. "No you guys go downstairs. Stay there until we come down."

"But mom-"

"Go now."

I pulled from her and ran downstairs but just as I thought they only sent Sebastian and me downstairs just as we passed the Penhallows. I slammed down the stairs not caring if I faced any more monsters. When we reached the bottom I leaned against the wall, crossing my arms over my chest.

Sebastian stood in front of me awkwardly. "Here let me heal you."

He had his stele in one hand and was holding the other out to me. Sighing I revealed the half finished iratze on my chest right below my shoulder. He gulped but lightly drug the stele across my skin. When he was done and I felt the mark burn and then my injuries heal I pulled out my stele and told him, "Now it's you're turn."

He pulled up his sleeve showing me his almost finished iratze. After completing it I ran my finger over my handiwork. "There, that should do it."

He inhaled deeply and pulled back quickly, "Thank you."

We heard another scream from upstairs but suddenly the ceiling above us is cracking and just as it gives in Sebastian grabs me and pulls me down away from it slamming us both into the ground. He's covering me with his body both hands on my back.

He sits up once the noise has faded. "Are you ok?"

I take a deep breath and nod. This close to him my bodies on fire. He seems to feel it to but before either of us can say anything I hear this slithering sound. Sebastian's eyes widen as he rolls off me and we both sit up to see a huge demon with a snake body, a scorpion tail and the head of a viper. My stomach churns when I see my parents lying beside the creature.

It clearly weighed more than the floors were meant to support. But how did the mundanes control it? There's no way they just talked to it. There was no time to think about that because the demon turned to us with its snake eyes and slithered its tongue out.

I stood up shakily with pain running up my leg. Glancing down I realize that some glass had caught my leg. By the sounds Sebastian's making the same happened to him. I draw out my grandmother's sword and get ready. The demon is slithering toward us leaving my parents. He lunges at us with his mouth open wide. I step to the left barely missing him but bringing the blade down on his eye, slashing it open.

He reaches back and I see Sebastian with his seraph blade out. We nod at each other and lung at the demon while he's still recovering from his eye. I drag my blade through his mid section while Sebastian goes higher, more toward the throat. The demon sizzles but then vanishes.

My parents recover after the demon is dead and we quickly leave. Once back at the Institute we each leave to take a shower and change. After I shower I dress in a pair of jeans, boots, a t-shirt and a zip up hoodie. I leave my hair down not bothering with it and flop onto my bed exhaustion screaming at me. I had used an iratze to heal my wounds on the way back since Sebastian was forced to sit with his aunt and uncle so they could ask him everything we had seen.

Now I lay on my bed feeling too tired to move or even hunt down food. That is until I hear a knock on my door. Rolling out of bed I head over to it and am surprised to see flowers. Behind the flowers stands Sebastian looking bashful.

"I, well, I wanted to apologize for not realizing how great of a fighter you are."

I leaned against the doorframe with one hand on my hip, "Oh so you're admitting that I'm a pretty good fighter. That's a surprise."

He blushed more and shoved the flowers forward, "Here, they're an apology gift."

Taking them from him gently I set them down on the chair by the door. I go to say something but he gets to it before me, "Can I come in for a second?"

Nodding I step aside and let him in, closing the door behind him. I turn to face him but he's fast and connects our lips putting his right hand on my cheek. At first I'm too shocked to respond but slowly I close my eyes and return the kiss. His other hand snakes over my hip and rests on my back as my hands tangle in his hair coming to rest on his neck.

He pulls back all too soon putting his forehead to mine. "I just wanted you to know that you're amazing."

I blushed but don't want to step back. His other hand slides from my cheek, down my arms, and lands on my hip. He leans forward again connecting our lips but this time I don't tense, I don't hesitate. His lips feel soft against mine; his hands hold me as if he's afraid I'll pull away, his body close enough I can feel the heat radiating off of him.

He pulls back again but this time he pulls all the way back. I try to hide my disappointment but clearly fail. He's looking at me as if I'll disappear. "I…I honestly don't know what to do now. I didn't expect you to, well return the kiss."

My breathing is shallow and my cheeks feel hot. "Why did you kiss me?"

He blushes and rubs the back of his head, "I like you. Actually, I like you a lot. No Shadowhunter or mundane has made me feel like this. Like….."

Curiosity spiked and I asked him, "Like what?"

He groaned and lightly pushed me against the wall before saying, "Like I couldn't live without them."

My breath catches and my heart skips a beat. Without realizing what I'm doing I lean forward and press my lips against his. He leans into it more pinning me between his body and the wall. His hands stay on the wall on either side of me but my hands are on his chest.

That's when I realized that I really did like him and wouldn't mind having our relationship go somewhere. When he kissed me my body got hot and light as a feather. I couldn't believe it but it was there. Now we've been talking to each other for the last 3 years, swapping texts, calls, emails, even pictures. His aunt and uncle were well aware of our relationship but my parents didn't know.

Amber had once asked me why I don't tell them and I had told her that there hadn't been a right time to do it. She just tossed a pillow at me saying, 'There will never be a right time but you need to do it.'

Now staring at my phone I decided to call Sebastian. He answered on the second ring, "Hey."

I smiled like a little school girl hearing his voice, "Hi. How are you?"

He sounded out of breath making me wonder if he had been training like he normally does. "I'm actually fine, pretty worried about you and this whole Valentine thing. I'm hoping you'll stay safe and not do anything crazy."

I just chuckled, "Me, do something crazy?"

He chuckled too and said, "Yeah, you. Gah, if anything happened to you I'm not sure what I would do."

I frowned, not the topic I want to be on. "I actually called because I have something important to say."

I heard him grunt and then sigh, "Can it wait until I get to New York with you."

"Yeah, sure. No problem."

"Are you ok Tiffany?"

Couldn't get anything around him, "I just miss you. It's been too long since we've seen each other."

"I promise that I will see you soon. Have you talked to your parents yet?"

"Umm, I'll get back to you on that."

"Tiffany Midwinter, you still haven't said anything?"

"There's hasn't been a right time."

He groaned, "Hun, there's never going to be a right time. You just have to do it."

"I know." I heard my mom call for me, "Well I guess it's time to go. Mom's calling for me. I'll let you k now as soon as I get to New York."

"Good Luck, stay safe."

I shut my phone then just as mom came into the room. Grabbing my bag I followed her down the hall to the entryway. To my surprise the warlock opening the portal is Chris. He eyed me up and down before saying, "You've really grown up. Beautiful young lady you have become."

I smiled at him before saying, "Stop procrastinating Chris and open the portal."

His teeth snapped together quick before he waved his hand over the wall and the blue portal shone brightly at us. Mom gave me a quick hug then dad patted me on the back, "We'll be back soon guys."

We stepped through the portal and I felt the wind swirl up around my face but kept my eyes open ready for a landing. I saw it before Gabe did, the opening into the New York Institute. We were s hot out of the Portal and landed gracefully on our feet. People were bustling around everywhere.

I caught hold of a girl as she went to walk by me, "What's wrong?"

She explained that they've already finished the raid on Valentine and that he escaped. But now he has the Mortal cup and the Mortal Sword. I cursed and followed Gabe down the hall toward the Library where I stopped when I saw the red headed girl.


	2. Chapter 2

We burst through the Library doors and drew the attention of a lot of the adults. Of course Gabe is an adult and I'm close to being one. He approached the woman in charge of this Institute. "My name is Gabe Midwinter and this is my sister Tiffany Midwinter. We're here as requested help."

The head lady looked up, "Oh yes, you were requested from the United Kingdom Institute as help for us. My name is Maryse Lightwood. As you can see we have had our battle with Valentine, and though we did not loose we did not win either." She eyed me curiously before saying, "Alec will you come here for a second."

Pretty soon a cute boy with black hair and blue eyes came up to us, I could tell just by looking at him that he's Maryse Lightwoods son. "Will you get them settled into some of the empty rooms? We'll have more guests later so try to keep them close together."

He nodded and we left following him. When we were out of the library he turned right leading us down another hallway. "So you're Alec Lightwood? I've heard rumors about you. You're a pretty good Shadowhunter."

Alec glanced at Gabe over his shoulder. He smiled a tight smile, "I've heard of you and you're sister too. The Midwinter children are known for their fighting ability and also for strategy. I hope you're as good as they say you are. We need some help against Valentine."

I stopped short again when I saw the red headed girl knowing that somehow I knew her but not sure how. Then it clicked, "She's Clarissa Fray. Daughter of Jocelyn and Valentine. I have to say she looks nothing like Valentine."

Alec smiled again, "She would love to hear that. She hates Valentine, though no one can really blame her for it. He is a monster."

Alec suddenly stopped in front of a door. Pointing to his left he said, "This will be Gabe's room." Pointing to his right he said, "This will be Tiffany's room. I'll be back later to give you guys more details. For now wander around, the training room is around the corner. Hard to miss."

I turned on the boy smiling, "Thanks Alec."

Heading into the room I dropped my duffel bag on the bed deciding to spread my weapons out on the dresser. When I was done with that I put my duffel bag onto the floor beside the bed and stared out the window. Deciding to find something to do I changed into some work out clothes and headed to the training room.

When I got there I was surprised to see a pretty girl with long black hair and blue eyes already there. She eyed me when I entered the room making me feel very self conscious. "Who are you?"

Her attitude struck me as odd, but I responded anyways, "My name is Tiffany Midwinter. I can tell by you're eyes that you're Isabelle Lightwood. I've heard about you a lot and you're amazing."

Clearly she expected this as she flipped her hair and, "Yeah, thanks, I know I'm amazing. Don't have to repeat it."

Now I was irritated. "You know what I'll just go for a quick jog."

She didn't say anything as I left and headed toward the elevator. Just as I pressed the button Clary walked around the corner toward the elevator. Just as she got there it opened and we both stepped in. I pressed the button to head down and she was eerily quiet but she looked like she had been crying.

I turned to her and held out my hand, "Hi, my name's Tiffany Midwinter."

She smiled and wiped at the tears with the back of her hand before shaking my hand. "My name is Clary Fray. What are you doing here?"

I shrugged and told her, "I was actually summoned to help with the fight against Valentine but turns out we weren't needed."

"I'm sorry."

I turned toward her and asked her, "Why are you sorry? I mean it's not like you killed him before I got here. That would have helped out a lot."

She smiled, "Unfortunately, I can't say I did kill him. He just kind of ran off."

"Like a dog with it's tail tucked between it's legs."

She got quiet and then went to say something as the door opened. She shook her head obviously thinking better of it and then left. At first I just stared after her and then shook my own head and left. I stepped out of the Institute and onto the street, noticing Clary run up to an old beat up truck with a vampire and a werewolf leaning against it.

They noticed me and I waved at them before putting in my headphones and starting my light jog. I made it a good distance feeling the familiar burn in my lungs and legs before I started to add Kickboxing moves to it practicing as I went. On my way back I just ran deciding to push myself.

When I made it to the Institute steps my whole body ached but I felt a lot better. I stood up and pulled out my head phone noticing some one on the steps. I went to step around them when I noticed the black hair and brown eyes. My eyes widened and I stopped short. He looked different but the same too.

He smiled at me and stepped down to be the same height as me. "You're stunned speechless?"

As if his voice broke some sort of spell I flung myself at him wrapping my arms around his neck. I buried my head into his shoulder as his hands wrapped around me spiking that fire that always burned through my skin when he touched me.

I pulled back still making sure to keep my hands on his shoulders, "When did you get here?"

He frowned and looked at his phone, "About 10 minutes ago. I thought you might be in the training room but when I went in there it was empty so I came out here thinking you might have went for a jog. Glad I know you very well."

"Does Maryse know you're here?"

He nodded, "Some guy named Malik led me to a room where I dumped my bag. But they're sending me back soon. We only have tonight and tomorrow."

My hands tightened on him. "No not already. You just got here."

He frowned, "I don't have a choice. I'm sorry Tiffany, you know if I could stay longer I would."

Grabbing his hand I pulled him away from the Institute. "Well then we're not staying here. It's high time we go on a date."

He interlaced our fingers coming up beside me, "I'm game for that. What did you have in mind?"

"Well when I was jogging I passed by this diner and then a park. We could go there."

"Sounds good to me."

We walked to the diner in silence just enjoying each other's company. Sebastian has the average build of a Shadowhunter with nice arms, muscular stomach and chest, with broad shoulders. He had filled out a lot in the last 3 years. He caught me staring and smiled at me, "Like what you see?"

Blushing I looked away saying, "You've really changed in the last 3 years. You feel different yet the same too."

His hand reached out and he brushed my hair behind my shoulder looking at me. "You've changed a lot too. But you're still amazing."

I wanted to respond but wasn't sure what to say. Instead I was saved by the sight of the diner. I led him in and a waitress seated us. We looked over the menu and my stomach grumbled, Sebastian was quiet as he glanced over his menu.

The waitress came back and asked, "Can I get you guys anything to drink or are you ready to order?"

Sebastian looked from her to me, "I'm ready if you are." He nodded and gestured for me to go first. So I told the waitress, "Could I get a cheeseburger with a pop."

She wrote it down nodding and Sebastian told her, "I'll have the same thing."

She left putting in the order and I suddenly felt very nervous. Sebastian reached over the table and grabbed my hand interlacing our fingers. "I missed you."

I blushed but smiled, "I missed you as well. It stinks that we can't see each other very often. Do you think if I told my parents they would be ok with me seeing you more often?"

He shrugged thinking about the last time he had seen my parents, "Well they're not exactly too overly protective but they would worry about what we were doing. I mean a girl and a boy staying in the same house when emotions are running high. What do you think they're going to think?"

I blushed but then irritation took over, "But I'm almost 18 and so are you. Shouldn't that count for something."

He smiled knowing exactly where I was coming from, "I know what you mean. But for now it doesn't change anything. Let's just enjoy each others company."

I nodded just as our food arrived. We both looked at out burgers before adding ketchup. As we both reached for the ketchup our hands touched and I jerked back. He blushed and picked up the ketchup handing it to me. Smiling I took it and put some on my plate for my fries and some on my burger. After I was done with it I handed it to Sebastian.

After we finished our meal we headed to the park. When we got there I noticed him take a look around before he reached over and interlaced our fingers dragging me toward a shadowed area. The sun was starting to go down so there weren't many people at the park.

Sebastian stopped under a tree and quickly turned pulling me into a hug. He hugged me tight burying his face in my neck. It only took me a few seconds to wrap my arms around him. We stood like that for a bit before he pulled back and kissed me.

This kiss started very gentle and intimate but it soon got needy and hungry. Before I knew it I'm pinned between him and the tree. He grabs my hand interlacing our fingers before pulling it up beside my head. His body presses against mine letting the heat from him pool into me.

It wasn't until I heard someone gasp that I pulled back. I turned to look and saw a girl about 16 standing there staring at us. Sebastian leans back slowly keeping our bodies connected but making sure he can see the girl. "Is there something we can help you with?"

She glanced down at the ground and said, "I was going to see if you….If you wanted to go on a date with me?"

He looked at her with his eyes wide and incredulous. He started, "I already have a girlfriend."

I watched her face fall and my heart went out to her. I mean she saw us kissing though so what answer did she expect. Her eyes turned on me with a nasty glare as she darted off, tears brimming her eyes. Sebastian sighed now pulling away from me. He sat down beside me leaning his back against the tree.

"That just killed the mood."

I nodded and sat down beside him. He instantly reached for my hand, interlacing our fingers. Staring out at the park we stayed silent for a while. That is until my phone went off. I flipped it over noticing that Gabe is calling, "Hello?"

"Where the hell are you? I've been looking everywhere for you."

I looked at Sebastian whose eyebrows were up. "I'm with Sebastian-"

"I should've figured that when I saw him portal here. That's it I'm having mom portal you there as soon as we get home. Right after you tell them."

"Gabe, I can't tell them. They won't understand."

"Tiffany, what makes you think they won't understand? They love you and they approve of him believe it or not. I think they've known for a while but have waited for you to say something. Please just tell them when we get back. Sebastian can come with us too."

"Oh, ok. Is there a reason you were searching for me?"

He sighed before saying, "No I was just worried about you."

I smiled and told my brother, "I'll be back soon. I promise. It's just we haven't seen each other for so long."

He chuckled then said, "Just get back when you can."

He clicked off and I closed my phone sticking it in my pocket before relaying to Sebastian what Gabe had said. He listened intently until I was done. "I agree with your brother." He was quiet for a minute then he scooted in front of me kneeling in front of me. "There's something I've wanted to tell you for a while." I waited as he took a deep breath and saying, "I love you Tiffany."

I felt my eyes widen before I got up the courage to respond, "I love you too Sebastian. I have for a long time."

He enveloped me in a hug before pulling back and lightly connecting our lips. After that we left and headed back to the Institute. On the way there I decided to ask, "Will you, umm, sleep with me tonight? Not in any perverted way or anything."

He smiled putting his finger on my lips. "Of course I will."

We made it to the Institute and entered heading straight to the elevator. When it dinged letting us on Sebastian pulled me forward into it pinning me against the wall, "Just one more time before we're surrounded by prying eyes."

I closed my eyes and felt his lips brush over mine. His kiss left trails of fire on my lips and his hands left a trail on my hips. Why does he affect me like this? Before I could quite react back he pulled back and a second later the elevator doors opened. I looked around glad to see less of a buzz of people now.

Sebastian lightly tugged on my arm leading me to the right of the elevator. I stopped in front of my door opening it and pulling him in behind me. I grabbed a pair of pj's out of my duffel bag before heading to the bathroom. Thinking about it I turned to Sebastian and said one word, "Stay."

He threw his hands up before sitting on the bed, kicking off his boots. I entered the bathroom shutting the door and quickly changing. I headed back out into the bedroom feeling very self conscious. Sebastian still sat on my bed looking at his phone. When he heard the door open he looked up.

A smile slowly crept over his face as he looked at my pajamas. "Cute. I should've guessed you'd look just as beautiful in pajamas."

I strode over to the bed stopping in front of him. He smiled standing up and reaching his hands around me before bending down to kiss me. It was a quick kiss leaving me wanting more. When he pulled back he ushered toward the bed and I crawled in having him crawl in behind me. He pulled me toward him before burying his face in my hair.

"You're hair has gotten really long. I like it."

I pulled at a loose strand and handed it to him, "Take some if you want."

He leaned up on his elbow and looked over at me. His hand slowly snaked around my stomach pulling me back to lay on my back as he hovered over me. He pinned me under his body before bringing his lips crashing down on mine. Without thinking my hand went under his shirt playing with his toned muscles and tracing his scars.

He shivered and pulled back for a second. His eyes shone with love and it had me blushing. He pulled his shirt up and over his head quickly tossing it to the side. Then he moved closer to me again, "Now nothing's in your way."


End file.
